Teh One Who Knocks
01-05-2017, 02:19 PM
BY Meera Jagannathan - NY Daily News
http://i.imgur.com/z6UfIaAh.jpg
In this week’s edition of “Where Are They Now?,” we catch up with Bo Bice, best known for losing the 2005 “American Idol” crown to Carrie Underwood and apparently still toiling away in the band Blood, Sweat & Tears.
These days he’s on Facebook, white-splaining racism to his 31,580 followers after a black Popeyes employee allegedly ridiculed his name and called him “white boy.”
“If tables had been turned and I used something as insensitive like that ... I would be boycotted, people wouldn’t buy my albums,” Bice told Fox 5 Atlanta on Tuesday.
Per Bice, here’s how the horror transpired: The Alabama-born “Idol” hopeful went to a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport last week, presumably expecting courteous customer service.
Instead, he says, an African-American worker named Shawana spent five minutes taunting him over his name (variations included “Bow-Bow, Boo-Boo, Bo-Bo,” he claimed in a since-removed Facebook post), and referred to him as “the white boy.”
He fumed over the injustice online — decrying Shawana’s “racist” behavior, railing against the “communist media platform” Facebook for apparently deleting his post, and demanding an apology from the New Orleans-style chicken purveyor. He got one: The franchise’s manager reportedly called with a mea culpa, and its owner said in a statement that “corrective action” had been taken.
Through it all, Bice soaked up fans’ support and sparred with social media users who told him to quit whining and “grow a pair.” One said she hoped Bice was “never allowed to eat chicken again.”
http://i.imgur.com/HArZBpA.jpg
“So lucky you’re not a minority you wouldn’t survive the actual institutionalize (sic) racism we face,” tweeted @zoemnicho.
Right on, @zoemnicho. Should a Popeyes employee have openly taunted a customer, mocked his nickname and singled him out for being Caucasian? Of course not. For her rudeness and unprofessionalism, Bice asked that she undergo sensitivity training, an apt punishment.
But the worker didn’t assert racial superiority over Bice’s whiteness. She didn’t oppress him. Bice will continue having a career (sort of), touring with his band, and living a generally OK existence.
African-Americans, meanwhile, continue an uphill battle against systemic and institutionalized racism, including a justice system that sets them up to fail. (Not for nothing, Bice’s reported cocaine and marijuana-related charges in the early 2000s were ultimately dropped — a luxury black men don’t typically enjoy.)
Then there’s Bice’s misguided notion of the word “boy”: “Using terminology like boy to a grown man?” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Radio & TV Talk blog. “That is offensive. And it is intended to belittle.”
Well, not exactly. To a white man, “boy” is demeaning. But to a black man, it’s akin to the n-word, an age-old dismissal meant to put African-Americans in their place.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I expect common cortousy, professionalism, & to🚫be mocked and called names for 5 minutes during my meal. Guess that's considered THE WORKS! <a href="https://t.co/iXgaVyzMVE">https://t.co/iXgaVyzMVE</a></p>— Bo Bice (@OfficialBoBice) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialBoBice/status/816499238641266690">January 4, 2017</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“It’s time for us to wake up and start having some dialogue,” Bice told Fox 5 Atlanta. “It’s not 1960, it’s 2017 and we are all adults here.”
Yes, Bo, let’s wake up and have some dialogue. We can talk about police brutality, voter disenfranchisement and the mass incarceration of black men. And we can tackle it all over some popcorn shrimp and Cajun wings.
http://i.imgur.com/z6UfIaAh.jpg
In this week’s edition of “Where Are They Now?,” we catch up with Bo Bice, best known for losing the 2005 “American Idol” crown to Carrie Underwood and apparently still toiling away in the band Blood, Sweat & Tears.
These days he’s on Facebook, white-splaining racism to his 31,580 followers after a black Popeyes employee allegedly ridiculed his name and called him “white boy.”
“If tables had been turned and I used something as insensitive like that ... I would be boycotted, people wouldn’t buy my albums,” Bice told Fox 5 Atlanta on Tuesday.
Per Bice, here’s how the horror transpired: The Alabama-born “Idol” hopeful went to a Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport last week, presumably expecting courteous customer service.
Instead, he says, an African-American worker named Shawana spent five minutes taunting him over his name (variations included “Bow-Bow, Boo-Boo, Bo-Bo,” he claimed in a since-removed Facebook post), and referred to him as “the white boy.”
He fumed over the injustice online — decrying Shawana’s “racist” behavior, railing against the “communist media platform” Facebook for apparently deleting his post, and demanding an apology from the New Orleans-style chicken purveyor. He got one: The franchise’s manager reportedly called with a mea culpa, and its owner said in a statement that “corrective action” had been taken.
Through it all, Bice soaked up fans’ support and sparred with social media users who told him to quit whining and “grow a pair.” One said she hoped Bice was “never allowed to eat chicken again.”
http://i.imgur.com/HArZBpA.jpg
“So lucky you’re not a minority you wouldn’t survive the actual institutionalize (sic) racism we face,” tweeted @zoemnicho.
Right on, @zoemnicho. Should a Popeyes employee have openly taunted a customer, mocked his nickname and singled him out for being Caucasian? Of course not. For her rudeness and unprofessionalism, Bice asked that she undergo sensitivity training, an apt punishment.
But the worker didn’t assert racial superiority over Bice’s whiteness. She didn’t oppress him. Bice will continue having a career (sort of), touring with his band, and living a generally OK existence.
African-Americans, meanwhile, continue an uphill battle against systemic and institutionalized racism, including a justice system that sets them up to fail. (Not for nothing, Bice’s reported cocaine and marijuana-related charges in the early 2000s were ultimately dropped — a luxury black men don’t typically enjoy.)
Then there’s Bice’s misguided notion of the word “boy”: “Using terminology like boy to a grown man?” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Radio & TV Talk blog. “That is offensive. And it is intended to belittle.”
Well, not exactly. To a white man, “boy” is demeaning. But to a black man, it’s akin to the n-word, an age-old dismissal meant to put African-Americans in their place.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I expect common cortousy, professionalism, & to🚫be mocked and called names for 5 minutes during my meal. Guess that's considered THE WORKS! <a href="https://t.co/iXgaVyzMVE">https://t.co/iXgaVyzMVE</a></p>— Bo Bice (@OfficialBoBice) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficialBoBice/status/816499238641266690">January 4, 2017</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“It’s time for us to wake up and start having some dialogue,” Bice told Fox 5 Atlanta. “It’s not 1960, it’s 2017 and we are all adults here.”
Yes, Bo, let’s wake up and have some dialogue. We can talk about police brutality, voter disenfranchisement and the mass incarceration of black men. And we can tackle it all over some popcorn shrimp and Cajun wings.